Program Note
Matter-of-factly narration of a woman with an urgent tone is heard with a series of gigantic architectural structures shown in striking B&W, accompanied by exquisite instrumental music score. She is from 2 billion years ahead, warning us about the upcoming human mortality and extinction and what we can do to avoid such apocalypse.
Jóhann Jóhannsson was a prolific music composer of Arrival, Sicario, The Theory of Everything and more, helping filmmakers to fully convey their visions with his dynamic synthesizer sound. He passed away in 2018, but not before completing his most ambitious work, Last and First Men. Loosely based on Olaf Stapledon’s 1930 sci-fi novel, this is Jóhannsson’s first and last directed film, a minimalistic gem featuring his signature sound, surreal 16mm B&W cinematography and a deadpan voice-over by Tilda Swinton hauntingly creating his final creative statement. (Jongsuk Thomas NAM).